34-year old lefty starting pitcher Bruce Chen has continued to revive his major league career with the Royals so far in 2011. Chen has pitched in 22 games (all starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 11-7 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Chen has now pitched in 72 games (54 starts) in his first three years with the Royals and he is 24-20 with 1 save, a 4.42 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Royals should re-sign Chen for the 2012 season but they are going to have competition for him this time around.

25-year old righty reliever Greg Holland has been outstanding for the Royals so far this year. He has pitched in 40 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 4-1 with 2 saves, a 1.83 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Holland has only given up 33 hits and 17 walks in his first 54 innings this year while also whiffing 62 batters, which is pretty darn impressive. Holland has now pitched in 55 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Royals and he is 4-2 with 2 saves, a 3.10 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Holland is working his way into an important role in the Royals’ pen as he keeps pitching deeper in games.

24-year old righty reliever Aaron Crow came into this season as the Royals’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. Crow pitched in 33 games (32 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he was 12-10 with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. The Royals decided to convert Crow into a reliever as the rest is history. Crow has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 2-2 with 8 holds, a 1.96 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has only given up 29 hits while whiffing 41 batters in his first 41 1/3 innings so far this year while whiffing 41 batters as he has taken well to his new role. Crow has walked 19 batters this year so he does need to tighten up his control a bit, but he still is pitching well.

The Kansas City Royals have four rookie relievers that have really added some zip to the bullpen so far. 24-year old righty reliever Aaron Crow has made the A.L. All-Star team due to his performance so far this year. He has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 1.36 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Crow only has given up 26 hits and he has whiffed 39 batters already this year in his first 39 2/3 major league innings. Crow has walked 17 batters and that’s too many, but it’s also nitpicking. 21-year old lefty Tim Collins has been both good and bad this year for the Royals. Collins has pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Collins has only given up 27 hits while whiffing 37 batters in 41 1/3 innings so far this year, but he has also walked 32 batters which gets him into trouble often. If Collins can tighten up his control a bit, he can be a dominating reliever for the Royals. 25-year old righty Louis Coleman has also put up some eye popping numbers so far this year. Coleman has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 2.39 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has only given up 14 hits in his first 26 1/3 innings this year with 32 whiffs. Coleman has walked 14 batters this year, so he will need to tighten his control up a little bit. 25-year old righty Greg Holland has also been very effective so far this year for the Royals. Holland has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 1.37 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He has only given up 13 hits while whiffing 24 batters in his first 19 2/3 innings this year. The Royals hope the kiddie corps can tighten up the control a little bit while still pitching at a high level.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Felipe Paulino has been outstanding so far for the Royals. Paulino has pitched in 5 games (4 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 20 hits in his first 27 innings for the Royals. Paulino has now pitched in 23 games (4 starts) for the Rockies & Royals overall this year and he is 0-4 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. It’s time for the bullpen and the offense to pick it up when Paulino pitches as he should already have some wins for them based on how well he has pitched.